Perseverance
by CrushingOnSans
Summary: Everyone's favorite OT3 (or at least my favorite) and their story. (contains heavy themes involving major character death)
1. Just My Luck

Sans still had no idea how he had convinced his two best friends to live with him, but it had started out as quite possibly the best decision he had ever made. There was absolutely nothing better than waking up to Blue's cooking every morning, and, despite his many complaints, he actually quite enjoyed the loud, out-of-key renditions of Ed Sheeran songs ringing through the house every time Red took a shower. It was peaceful, and the closest to happy he'd been in years. There was a certain amount of entertainment-filled contentment that came with living with two of his favorite people in the multiverse.

It really wasn't much of a surprise when Sans found himself falling for them. It happened a little bit at a time, starting with the well-meant nagging of Blue and the near-sighted needling from Red. He noticed how his soul would jump when Blue grabbed his hands, as he tended to do when he got excited. He found himself smiling privately every time he heard Red laugh, the sound rare enough that it was a treat every time it happened. Every single time one of them walked into the room he was in, he could actually feel his soul lighting up with happiness.

But here he was, sitting on the couch, the two of them just across the room, and he felt as though his soul was imploding.

Of fucking course this would be his luck. Of course this would happen to him.

When Blue got home from work, he was excited about...something? It was honestly impossible to understand what he was going on about, with how fast he was talking. Sans and Red had just sat and watched him for a moment before Red stood up, crossing the room to try to calm him down, much to Sans' amusement. Red laughed loudly, grabbing Blue's wrists and pulling him just a bit closer than he was, and Sans just sat and watched, savoring the atmosphere.

God, I'm so fucked .

Then Blue reached out, grabbing Red by the sides of his head and pulling him forward, practically crushing their mouths together.

Blue kissed Red.

And now Sans was sitting here, biting back tears, wondering how he'd ever thought he had a chance. Of course the two people he…

He stood abruptly, sure that if he stayed for another moment, he would completely embarrass himself. Hoping that the look on his face was anything but heartbroken, he crossed the room to the door, looking back just as they broke out of their kiss. Blue's eyelights were hazy, and Red looked shocked, as though he couldn't believe his luck.

Sans tried to ignore the fact that that was exactly as he'd imagined them with…

He turned away.

"I'll let you two talk this out," he mumbled, pushing open the door and doing his best not to slam it behind him.

When Sans woke up, it was to a pounding headache and a fuzzy brain. He groaned aloud and pressed the flat of his hand against his forehead. Fuuuck… He tried to bring his other hand up to rub at his eye sockets, only to find his arm was trapped under something. He opened his eyes slowly, grimacing at the light, and looked down.

He was greeted with the sight of Blue, his head tucked up against Sans' bare ribcage, breathing softly. Sans had an arm wrapped around him from underneath, and now that he knew what had it trapped, he could feel that Blue also appeared to be, at the very least, shirtless; a fact that was expanded upon when he shifted slightly and his bare pelvis scraped against Sans'.

There was a long moment in which Sans just stared, the pieces very slowly coming together. Then, all at once, it hit him, and the air was split by a shriek as he propelled himself away from his sleeping alternate, landing on the floor with a loud thump .

Blue, having been awoken by the other's ungainly exit from the bed, sleepily looked over the side of the mattress. "Sans? What are you doing down there?"

Sans just stared at him, unsure how to respond. Oh, fuck... What had he done? Sweet, romantic-at-heart Blue, who, with the way he talked, sometimes seemed as though he'd fallen headfirst into one of those cheesy rom-coms that Red always pretended to- oh shit. Red.

"Sans?" Blue was still staring at him, very obviously confused and more than a little concerned.

"I...I'm just...I don't know. I'm..." Sans couldn't seem to string any of his words together coherently, and it was putting him even closer to the edge of a panic attack, his breath coming faster as his mind spun, trying to figure out what had happened. He couldn't possibly have been so far gone that he had-

"You must be freezing!" Blue said, observant as ever, and he pushed himself up to stand, dragging the blanket with him. Sans dragged his eyes away from the large amount of exposed spine he could see, taking a deep breath. His mind tried to remind him that it wasn't like he hadn't seen it all before, apparently, but he pushed the thought away, feeling vaguely nauseous with guilt. Blue came around the bed, settling down to sit beside him and wrapping the blanket around the both of them.

"Are you okay, Sans?"

Of fucking course he wasn't okay. He was a homewrecking piece of shit. "Yeah. I'm fine." Blue frowned at him, picking up on the lilt of the lie in his voice, but let it go.

"You were pretty drunk last night, weren't you?" he commented, his cheeks flushing. His fingers were picking at the edge of the blanket, and Sans felt himself entranced by the motion for a long moment before he realized the other had spoken.

"A-apparently. D-did...Were you drunk too, or…?"

Blue scrunched his brow, seeming confused. "No… I'm not usually a big drinker. I don't like the taste. Do you...not remember what happened?"

All Sans could bring himself to do was shake his head. Blue hadn't even been drunk? He didn't really seem like the cheating type…

Blue's eyes widened in understanding. "Well, that would explain why you seem a bit out of sorts. Are you okay?"

Sans snorted. "Yeah, just peachy. I have a headache, my… well, my everything hurts, to be honest, and I just fucking woke up in bed with one of my two best friends, who also happens to be fucking... dating or whatever the hell you are, my other best friend! Everything is perfect !"

Blue laid a cautious hand on his upper arm, making him flinch and look over. The other's eyelights had dimmed with concern, and there was some emotion in them that Sans wasn't quite sure how to identify. "Sans, it's okay. It's not what you think, I promise."

Sans, confused, was about to ask what he meant when the door swung open, and Red was framed in the doorway. Sans' conflicting emotions were making it hard to think, but he knew one thing for sure. He had really screwed up. Red was pulling a black tank top over his head, and seemed to be about to say something, but Sans' strangled gasp cut him off. He turned to face him, looking confused, then looked back at Blue with a question in his eyes.

Sans couldn't take the waiting. "Red, I am so sorry, I...I didn't mean for this to-" He realized that he was crying, seemingly out of nowhere, but he powered through it, wanting to do his best to save his relationship with, really, either of them. "I never would have done this, not to either of you, I was just...I was drunk, I was so fucking drunk, I had no idea what I was doing. I know that's no excuse, I just…" Damn it, he was rambling, wasn't he? He didn't think he'd ever been so terrified in his life. He'd fucked up so badly. He'd just managed to lose both of them for good. He'd have to move out, they'd never want to speak to him again, maybe he'd even screwed things up between them, why was he such a piece of shit ?

Red raised a brow, looking back at Blue again before he turned his gaze back to Sans. He knew, somewhere in the back of his mind, that there was no real judgement there, but he still couldn't help the wave of panic that crashed over him as his mind transformed the other's expression into one of rage.

"Uh...yeah, wow, I'm so betrayed. How could you, and all that." Red's voice was oddly flat, but Sans was already lost to his panic, burying his face in his arms. He'd ruined everything. He'd lost them, he'd lost them for good, and on top of that, he'd destroyed their happiness. He couldn't believe he had let himself be so completely stupid . He started to shake, wrapping his arms around himself as his tears started to run down his face.

"Whoa, hey!" Red crossed the room to them, and Sans was faintly aware of him cupping his cheeks, trying to get him to look up. Sans pulled his skull away, not wanting to face the accusations he was sure were present in the other's face. "Sans, hey, stop, why are you crying?!"

"Red, he doesn't remember anything from last night!"

Sans was vaguely aware of Blue's voice, but he couldn't comprehend what he was saying. He was crying so hard now he could barely breathe, great, wracking sobs ripping through his chest as he realized what an idiot he'd been for ever thinking he could be happy, even for a moment.

Everything always went to shit, he should know that by now.

"Aw, fuck, Sans, no, come on, I'm not mad at you, it's alright, it's all gonna be alright, don't cry, okay?" Red's hands found his cheeks again, this time just stroking his thumbs against the bone instead of trying to pull him anywhere.

Sans felt a pair of arms wrap tightly around him before he was gathered up against someone's chest, the back of his ribcage pressed to their front. They started to take deep, exaggerated breaths, and Sans found himself copying them. "Breathe, Sans. Just breathe, it's all going to be okay." Blue murmured.

"I'm so sorry..." he heard Red say quietly. Blue said something back to him, but Sans didn't hear it. He was just focused on the movement of the other's ribs against his and the fingers still tracing delicate circles over his cheekbones. In, out. In, out. In, out. Deep breaths. He felt himself coming down from his panic, the tears stopping.

Through it all, they continued murmuring to him, the soothing timbre of their voices helping him out of the attack. As he calmed, the words they were saying started to become a little more clear, until finally, Red said something from his place right next to Sans' skull that made him jump violently, turning to face him and freezing in Blue's hold. "What did you just say?" he asked incredulously.

Red moved back slightly as his whole face turned his namesake, and he stammered a little before saying, "I...I l-love you. Sans." Then his face was set determinedly, and he repeated with conviction. "I love you."

Sans just stared at him for a moment. "What?"

"So do I, Sans. We both love you. We really do. It's all okay." Blue said softly from right beside his face.

Sans looked back at him, completely at a loss. "...what happened last night?"

Red shifted in front of him, drawing his attention. When he sensed Sans' eyes on him, his cheeks lit up in a blush, seeming vaguely uncomfortable. "Well...uh...after you left, we sat down to talk. Like you said we should. And we...well, we sorta...we realized-"

Letting out a long-suffering sigh at Red's storytelling inabilities, Blue interrupted, "We talked it out and we realized that we both wanted to be with you, too, Sans. And then this sappy romantic-" he gestured to Red, rolling his eyes jokingly as his voice dropped into a raspy approximation of Red's, "-said that we should 'totally have a threeway', so I was going to leave the house to go find you."

Sans glanced back at Blue before grinning forward at Red, the familiar bickering atmosphere relaxing him more than even their confessions had. "You came to find me to have a threeway?"

"No!" Blue looked scandalized, and Red snickered, earning himself a glare. "No, I told Red he could have a threeway with himself-"

"Mission accomplished."

"-and I went to go make sure you were okay!" Blue continued, ignoring Red completely. "When you left you seemed pretty upset, and I was worried! But when I opened the door you were already right outside."

"You were pretty drunk." said Red quietly, the grin from his own fantastic jokes slowly fading at the memory. "I had no idea you were blackout drunk, though."

Blue nodded, then continued, "So you came in, and we tried to tell you, but you just kept...you kept trying to go to your room, saying that you couldn't stay here with us because all you would do was screw everything up. I asked you why, and you said that it was because you loved us both how we loved each other. You said you wanted us to be happy, but that you couldn't be happy watching us love one another. That it would break your heart." Blue looked as though he was about to start crying, and Sans found himself cuddling closer in an attempt to reassure him. He felt Red's hands grab onto his own and his thumbs stroking along his metacarpals.

This time it was Red who spoke. "Then, Blue, he, well, he told you that he loved you just as much as he loved me, and I felt the same way, and I told you too. And you just...you just looked at us for a while. It was kinda creepy, actually. Then you, well you sorta…" He shifted again, his blush growing brighter before he continued. "You kissed me? Then, I mean, you can probably figure out where it went from there," he said, gesturing at Blue's bare ribcage.

Sans didn't know what to say. How did he react to this, that the two people that he...and they…

"You love me?" he whispered, unbelievingly.

"I love the two of you more than I even thought was possible." Blue replied matter-of-factly at the same time that Red simply said, "Yes."

Sans could feel tears slipping down his cheeks again, but the crying was not accompanied by any of the gasping panic from before. " Why? "

Blue just looked confused, but Red's face fell, sadness coming into his eyes as he realized what Sans was asking.

"Or.. I guess... How? How could you possibly... How could you love me ?"

Blue looked as though someone had stabbed him through the stomach. He was looking at Sans like he'd never seen him before. "How could we not, Sans?" he asked, sounding as though he was genuinely at a loss.

Red's grip on his hands tightened, and Sans turned to look at him, eyes still filled with tears.

"Sans, you are amazing. You are kind and caring and strong, and you just...make me feel as though there is something worthwhile to all of this. That's...that's not something that's easy to do, with the life I've had."

Blue was watching Red's face right alongside Sans, warmth coming into his eyelights as he saw the devotion the other had to the skeleton they both loved so much. A lesser monster would have been jealous, he supposed, but all he could think in that moment was how amazing it was, the strides Red had made to be able to care this much about anything. And, by Toriel, did Sans deserve to have that love. They both deserved all the love in the world, and he wanted nothing more than to give it to them.

He leaned forward and settled his face into the crook of Sans's neck, wrapping his arms all the way around him. "I love you. So much more than I'll ever be able to tell you, either of you." Sans heard him murmur against his bones.

Sans felt tears fill his eyes again, but this time, they felt different. "I love you too." he whispered, letting go of one of Red's hands to wrap an arm around Blue. Shakingly, he pressed a soft kiss to the side of his head before turning to the slightly larger skeleton. "You too. I love you too." he said quietly, a small, disbelieving smile curving his mouth.

Red smiled when he heard it, then, a sly grin crossing his face, he asked, "You know, since you don't remember the last time does that make this our first kiss?"

Sans blinked, confused. "Our what?"

Then Red's free hand was moving, and he cupped Sans' chin, pulling his face forward slightly to meet his own.

Red was kissing him. Red was kissing him. Red was kissing him .

He had Blue's arms wrapped tightly around him and his breath on his neck, and Red was kissing him.

Maybe he did have a chance to be happy, after all.


	2. Misunderstanding

Fell knocked on the door of the house his brother shared with his alternates, rubbing his exposed humeri in an attempt to stave off the cold. God, the city was spoiling the hell out of him, the large amount of people and machinery keeping everything warm and completely devoid of snow. He needed to get this Royal Guard business (bullshit, in his opinion) sorted out so that he could return to Snowdin and fix his tolerance to low temperatures. After all, if he were to regain his position in this backwards universe, he would need to be able to be as adjustable as he once was.

There was the sound of running footsteps, and Fell couldn't help the indulgent smile that crossed his face. There was no way that was anyone but Blue, and just like everyone else who had ever met him, Fell had a soft spot for the little skeleton. It certainly didn't help that Stretch talked about him as though he were the greatest thing in the multiverse.

Though it was entirely possible that that may be the truth, it didn't mean Fell enjoyed hearing it from the person he was going to be married to.

The door swung open, and sure enough, Fell was greeted by the smiling face of his brother's much smaller alternate. "Fell!" he stage whispered, looking surprised. "I wasn't expecting you!"

Fell cocked a brow, but followed his lead with the volume, lowering his voice to reply. "Yes, well, I was in the area, and I needed to return a few keys of Sans'."

"Sans'?"

"Red's."

"Oh!" Blue opened the door wider in invitation. "Come on in, just try to keep the volume down for the moment. Red and Sans are asleep and I was just making some dinner!"

Fell snorted in derision, but did as Blue asked and came in quietly, slipping off his wet boots before pulling the keys from his pocket. "Would you mind terribly if I grabbed one or two of your 'world-famous' tacos while I am here? Your useless brother practically begged me to pick some up." His tone was devoid of any real venom as he spoke about his fiancee, and Blue beamed up at him.

"Of course! In fact, why don't you go wash your hands and stay for dinner? You can bring back the leftovers, so that way they will be at their freshest!"

"Oh, I don't know-"

"I insist!" Blue exclaimed, star-shaped eyelights shining brightly. His voice had risen in his excitement, and it seemed to prompt some motion from the lump of blankets on the sofa, drawing Fell's gaze.

Over the last several years, it had become increasingly common to find his brother sound asleep in the oddest of places. Sitting at his sentry station, sprawled sideways across the kitchen table, even, once, up in a tree for no good reason at all. So it was, really, anything but unusual or strange to see Red asleep on the couch.

What was unusual was the fact that he seemed to have duplicated in his sleep.

Sans was snoring softly, his head tucked up under Red's chin and the other's arms wrapped tightly around him, holding him closely as though afraid he would wake to find them empty. Their chests rose and fell in unison, and Fell didn't think he'd ever seen Red so still while he was asleep.

They were both entirely dead to the world, a fluffy blanket covering them from the waist down. They were completely wrapped up in one another, the position so obviously loving and intimate that Fell could feel himself flushing, wondering if he should even be allowed to see them, or if he was intruding in on something private and wholesome.

He turned back to Blue, trying not to feel insulted by the fact that Red hadn't told him that he was in a relationship when it was this obvious. Was it because he thought Fell would disapprove?

Sure, he complained about his brother's counterpart often enough, but he had his own lazy lover; and it wasn't as though he would ever fight against any happiness his brother could find.

"How long has that been going on?" he asked quietly, turning away as he struggled to find an explanation that didn't mean he'd been imagining any progress he'd made with Red.

"Only since last night," answered Blue, and Fell snorted as he imagined how Blue would know the exactly timeline. He opened his mouth to make a comment that he was pretty sure would have the other kicking him out on his ass, tacos be damned, but he was brought up short by the expression on Blue's face.

He was watching the two on the couch with something unidentifiable in his eyes, a small smile curving the edge of his mouth.

Fell couldn't dislodge the feeling that he was missing something.

Before he could ask, Blue gestured to the bathroom, smiling up at him. "Feel free to wash up! I need to go finish up dinner!"

When Fell returned to the living room, it was to quiet giggles, exaggerated snoring coming from the now blanket-covered lump that was probably Sans.

Red was currently trying to push the other skeleton off of him, laughing every time the other just rolled right back to where he had been. "Get off, ya big lump, I gotta go change."

Sans grumbled, apparently still somewhat asleep (or maybe just faking it), and only seemed to clutch tighter to the other. "Nah...Too comfy." he mumbled as he stuck his face out of the blanket only to bury it into Red's shirt, and Fell could see his grin pressed up against the cloth. Then he raised his head, looking Red in the eye. "Also, you smell nice. It just makes scents for me to stay right here forever." he said before burrowing back into the other.

Red snorted loudly at the stupid pun, trying to dislodge him again before seeming to give up, rolling his eyes and throwing his hands into the air. "Blue!"

There was the sound of clattering from the kitchen, undoubtedly the sounds of Blue preparing dinner. "Yes, Red?" came the shouted reply.

"Come rescue me from this terrifying skeleton monster, please!"

Fell snorted loudly at that, drawing his brother's attention. Red's eyes widened and a dark blush bloomed across his face. "H-hey Boss...How long have you been standing there?"

Sans's head popped up, and Fell could see dark blue covering his cheekbones as they made momentary eye contact.

"Long enough for you to have thoroughly embarrassed yourself." Fell said, trying not to grin at how flustered the two were.

"Oh, stop teasing them, Fell." came Blue's bright voice from the doorway. "Can the 'terrifying skeleton monster' come help me in here? I need some vegetables chopped."

"Sure thing, Blue!" came the immediate reply as Sans scrambled off of Red and practically ran into the kitchen. Fell's eyes followed him, fairly certain that was the most excited about work the other had ever been, before he looked back at his still-flushing brother.

Red had sat up and was folding up the blanket, apparently trying not to make eye contact as his blush began to fade slightly. "What're you doing here?" he finally asked, though not unkindly.

Fell made his way to the couch, sitting lightly beside Red as he finished folding. "I dropped off your lab keys and Blue invited me to stay for dinner." he answered, then, more quietly, "I'm glad you're happy. It's been a long time since I've seen you smile like that."

Red glanced up at him in shock, but before he could say anything, there was a loud crash from the kitchen, followed by a lot of laughter. Red flinched, looking up at the doorway, then stood quickly, looking like he was very grateful for the excuse not to continue the conversation. "I should go see-" he started, but Fell waved a hand, cutting him off.

"You said you had to change, right? Go ahead, I'll go see what's wrong." he said, standing up and beginning to make his way towards the kitchen. Red didn't move for a moment, then Fell heard him sigh quietly and start up the steps to his room.

He looked around the edge of the doorway, and saw Blue picking up an empty pan, seeming to be recovering from the loud noise and the surprise of suddenly dropping something so heavy.

While he was thus distracted, Sans reached from his place at the cutting board to steal some of the cooking meat, popping it into his mouth before Blue could stop him.

"Hey!" Blue said, giggling slightly. Neither of them seemed to have noticed his presence in the kitchen, and Fell found himself preferring it that way. It felt like he was missing something here, the atmosphere between the two seeming to be...different than he would have expected.

"What?" Sans said, his voice laced with false innocence. "I didn't do anything!"

"I saw you!" Blue laughed, walking back over to the stove and setting down the empty pan before swatting Sans on the shoulder. Sans grabbed the hand and pulled him closer, causing Blue to stumble slightly and allowing Sans to wrap him up in a hug, still grinning at him like the cat that ate the canary.

"What? Me eating your mea-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence, Sans!" Blue cried, trying to push the other away despite the large smile across his face.

Sans just pulled him closer, planting a semi-chaste kiss on his teeth before saying, "Aw, come on, you know you love-"

"What. The. Fuck?"

They both jumped violently before swinging around to look at him, looking shocked. They kept holding onto each other, and there was nothing even approaching guilt on their faces, which just pissed Fell off all the more.

Blue frowned, finally letting go of Sans to put his hands on his hips. "Fell! You scared me! And please watch your language!"

Fell just stared at him, completely flabbergasted. Did he somehow not realize the position they were in? There was no way. Stretch may think of his older brother as a child, for whatever reason, but Blue was an adult. He had realize that what Fell had just walked in on was damning. "I will not'watch my language'! You don't get to act all innocent after that...that little…" He threw his hands up in frustration. Red didn't fucking deserve this betrayal. Weren't these two supposed to be his best friends?

Sans' eyes widened in understanding, and he took a step towards Fell, his hands out in a placating gesture. "Hang on, this isn't what you think-"

"How the hell is this anything else? What, is kissing just a sign of friendship in your backwards-ass worlds? I suppose if you fucked behind my brother's back, too, that would just be a fun little game, wouldn't it?!" Fell hadn't been this angry in a long time. He'd gotten his hopes up out there, that Red had finally found happiness, that he wouldn't have to feel so damn guilty about finding his own.

Of course his useless older brother would pick the one damn person in this sugar-coated joke of a universe with enough backbone to tear that apart.

Blue spoke up now, looking worried. "Fell, please just-"

Fell snarled, cutting him off right at the start. Blue looked vaguely affronted, taking a step back and crossing his arms, but he maintained eye contact, opening his mouth to speak again just as Red walked into the kitchen.

He came to an abrupt stop in the doorway as he took in the atmosphere in the room. There was an overwhelming silence as they all turned to look at him, and he was tempted to just back away slowly. Instead, he turned to look at Blue and Sans, who both looked exasperated, with a question in his eyes.

Sans sighed, then said, "He saw us kissing and now he won't listen to reason."

Red snorted, and Fell narrowed his eyes, confused.

"Well, screw you Blue, I guess it's your turn to be the homewrecker," Red said, winking at his alternates. Sans' face lit up in a blush as Red frowned suddenly. "Wait, why does everyone always assume I'm the one getting cheated on?"

Sans opened his mouth, the snark of what he was planning to say practically reverberating around the room before Blue smacked him on the arm. "Sans, don't you dare-"

"Should I be heartbroken right now?" Red asked, throwing his hand over his forehead in his most dramatic pose before shouting, "How could you?!"

Sans snorted, and Red pushed up off the wall to approach the other two, very fake-sounding sobs coming out of his mouth. "Betrayal! Sadness! Jealousy!" he exclaimed, stomping in circles around the other two.

"Oh my god, Red-" Blue tried, reaching out and grabbing Red by the arm.

"Bitterness!"

"Stop!" Blue said, but he was giggling. "First of all, you can't just shout out the emotion you're supposed to be feeling, that's not-"

"What the hell is wrong with all of you?" Fell shouted.

Three pairs of eyes turned towards him at once, amusement fading into a mixture of confusion and resignation.

"Red, how can you be joking about this? These mother fuckers ," Fell shouted, putting emphasis on the swear word and glaring directly at Blue as though daring him to say anything about it, "have done something... unforgivable , and you're acting like an idiot!"

There was a long, uncomfortable silence before Sans spoke up. "Fell, we actually-"

"Shut. Up." He growled, shifting his glare from Blue to Red's supposed boyfriend. "How could you possibly do something like this to him? My brother is one of the most loyal people you will ever meet! He doesn't deserve this bullshit! And just because he can't confront this doesn't mean I won't for him!"

Before Fell could say anything else or summon an attack to dust the traitorous fuckers, a hand was placed gently on his arm. "Boss," started Red, a smile on his face like Fell hadn't seen in a long time. "Thank you for saying that, but I think there's been a misunderstanding."


End file.
